I have a 7 Year Old brother... He's been playing games since he was 5 ...He use to be naughty and didn't eat properly. But now he started gaming he's good and he eats Anyway..getting to the point.. He plays Grand Theft Auto...(San Andreas,Vice City And Liberty) He also Plays Star wars and all that..He's an amazing kid.. He's not rude doesnt swear..And yes..He proberly will get AOC sometime. But what's the point rating games..Even little kids get there own way..even if i buy it for myself he will grab it and play..If he get's violent obviously take the games and console/PC away.
Wow a 7 year old child playing a game based around violent crimes. Hookers, drugs, guns, murder? As a parent of 3 kids, one being 7, I just cant believe that parents would expose children this young to this sort of thing. I mean maybe 5 years from now, but does a seven year old even understand whats going on in this game? Hopefully he wont get the wrong ideas that what he sees in these games is okay to translate into real life.
No offense, but I wouldnt let my children spend the night at your house....
I have observed the debaters for "no children in the game because they're immature and irritating" and have come to the conclusion that it seems to be some kind of "I don't want you to play this game, but I just want you to know that it is so awesome" - much like the big brother teasing his smaller brother, because he isn't tall enough to try the roller-coaster. The debaters for "no children in the game" should stop writing and take a good look at themselves and think about who the immature people really are, and in what age-group they are in. You write that most immature players are in the 13-17 age-group, but from which statistics do you base that on? Do you ask every single person who annoys you? Your statements are based on mere assumptions. Most of the people I find annoying in EVE or WoW are actually +18 (I ask them). A typical response when I tell them to stop is something along these lines: "Get a life, nerd", "It's only a game." "Haha, NOOB!!", and so on. With a lot more grammatical errors and net-slang, of course.
The argument that blood, gore and nudity are bad for us is also invalid, as you do not have any evidence to support it. I played Soldier of Fortune (An FPS where you can shoot off limbs etc.), when I was 10-11 years old, and I fully knew, that I wasn't supposed to do that in-real-life, and that it was only a game. Children around that age, who can't differ game from reality, are insane, weren't raised accordingly, and should not be allowed to be near television, comics etc. either.
I am now 16, one of the top students in my class, and I have not taken any damage from playing vioent games. The roots your arguments are therefore not empirical, and should not be used to create laws and rules.
I feel it goes both ways. Of course you may attract some immature kids, but it will also keep some out. Furthermore, if they come only because of the M rating they will quickly be weeded out, as the M content will lose their attention in a few months and they will move on to something else. Also, GTA 4 will be releasing which is the most M game out there and I'm sure most of those kids will be playing GTA.
I have observed the debaters for "no children in the game because they're immature and irritating" and have come to the conclusion that it seems to be some kind of "I don't want you to play this game, but I just want you to know that it is so awesome" - much like the big brother teasing his smaller brother, because he isn't tall enough to try the roller-coaster. The debaters for "no children in the game" should stop writing and take a good look at themselves and think about who the immature people really are, and in what age-group they are in. You write that most immature players are in the 13-17 age-group, but from which statistics do you base that on? Do you ask every single person who annoys you? Your statements are based on mere assumptions. Most of the people I find annoying in EVE or WoW are actually +18 (I ask them). A typical response when I tell them to stop is something along these lines: "Get a life, nerd", "It's only a game." "Haha, NOOB!!", and so on. With a lot more grammatical errors and net-slang, of course. The argument that blood, gore and nudity are bad for us is also invalid, as you do not have any evidence to support it. I played Soldier of Fortune (An FPS where you can shoot off limbs etc.), when I was 10-11 years old, and I fully knew, that I wasn't supposed to do that in-real-life, and that it was only a game. Children around that age, who can't differ game from reality, are insane, weren't raised accordingly, and should not be allowed to be near television, comics etc. either. I am now 16, one of the top students in my class, and I have not taken any damage from playing vioent games. The roots your arguments are therefore not empirical, and should not be used to create laws and rules.
Well how do u explain those kids who have gone over the line and harmed others? Boys killing their baby brothers because their favorite hero does that in a video game? Kids in high school bringing guns and shooting at people just cause they got affetcted by a video game. The fact that u did distinguish the difference beetween a virtual world and the real one doesnt mean every 1 has your clairvoyance. Why should children be subjected to such a harmfull test?
It may seem to you that most people are concerned that kids will bring immaturity to the game. But those who passed the laws and invented those ratings, however biased they may be, had as their prime concern to shelter children from possibly harmfull images.
Also keep in mind that in an rpg game the player tends to bind himself with his character alot more than with a comics or tele hero. Since you actually "live" in that virtual universe it much much easier to cross the barier. So your comment about television and comics is pretty much invalid.
I still dont understand the whole arguement on how video games damage kids.
Most of the kids who shoot up their schools, are teased in school, have parent issues at home, etc.
The kid who comes home, does some homework, logs on counterstrike for a little bit to relax before he goes out with some buddys for the night, is generally not the one whos going to shoot up the schools. Take a walk around town once and open your eyes kids everywhere play games, not everyone is going to shoot up their schools cause they shot a terriost in-game and defused a bomb, or just PVPed someone with their new sword.
Bottom line
Video games dont kill people.
People kill people
If you cannot tell the difference at age 12, this isnt going to change anything, you are emotionally damaged, and your going to have the same emotional issues when your 30, just a different number on the age charts.
Well, ill answer the OP rather then dive in on all the wild random tangents people have posted since. Yes the mature rating will immediately attract horny adolesents. Much in the same way a subsription to playboy or sneaking into a adult film would. That is the way US likes to make it, thats what they get. Taboo something and every lil kiddy under the sun wants a taste. and no im not just talking about maybe nudity or blah blah...the violence too, and the blood squirting....all the stuff that US says is not for kids. All of it says buy me im not for kids...so kids will get hands on it, and they will play it, and more likely in larger numbers than the adults who dont give a f*$k in the fist place.
the fact this game is multiplatform on the crapbox 360 will ensure its horrible community
Envy much? You're just angry because it won't be released for the failure known as PlayStation 3 and the casual and cute little box known as the Wii.
Stupid fanboy.
Fanboy? Sony took 11 months after the release of the PS3 for its games division to become profitable. This contrasts sharply with Microsoft, whose game division took over TWO YEARS to become profitable.
As for the wii being casual - casual games are the XBox players. The kids sitting around chugging beer and playing halo in their dorm rooms. That's as casual as you get. Wii gamers are the ones who enjoy old school games and new and innovative ideas - definitely not casual. In fact the Wii's buying profile looks more like the PCs (no rush of initial sales, but consistent game sales for long periods of time - not the usual console pattern).
In every country and in every age, the priest has been hostile to liberty. He is always in alliance with the despot, abetting his abuses in return for protection to his own.
No matter if they do or not its a video game and most kids see alot worse things on the evening news...so the parents or somone will buy it for them....i remember when mortal combat 1 tried this when it first came out lol lasted for a week
Considering you need a decent machine to run this beast, that alone will probably limit the amount of kids entering this game. Unfortunately, this will limit some adults as well. I doubt most parents are willing spend $500+ to upgrade their computer(assuming they haven't already) just so their kid(s) could play a M-rated game. Of course, once components gets cheaper, kids will be pouring in just like every other MMO that demanded a high-end comp at launch.
"When you're born you're naked, when you die you're naked again, and in-between all we do is work, eat, and play MMOs." ~Forum Warrior #141
Like jusom said, there will always be the "immature" population in any game we play. We just need to learn to ignore these people, group with others like us, and it adds to the overall quality of the game. I know many people complained in WoW about the "kiddies" when all I did was ignore them and I was fine.
Ok but I think your both missing my point here. Immature or irritating people in Mmo's are not neccasarily Children or Teens, and WOW is not an 18 certifacte or Mature rated game.
I think AOC is quite unique as it is the first big profile Mmo to be aimed at Adults only. My question is should kids or teens play it , ok I know no matter what happens they will play it and even if their parents try to stop them they will usually find a way to get round the problem but as responsible Adult gamers should we do more to make sure our youngsters are not subjected to Adult material in games ?
Jail... yep, we should build a huge jail where we can send children. Inside the jail, they will not see any kind of violence or nudity. To enforce the nudity we'll design a suit that can not be taken off. Children need to be protected from all experiences because with experience they will grow out of our control. And really that is what it's all about being in control.
Well how do u explain those kids who have gone over the line and harmed others? Boys killing their baby brothers because their favorite hero does that in a video game? Kids in high school bringing guns and shooting at people just cause they got affetcted by a video game.
wwwhhhaattt??? No where has there been a study that has confirmed that...
There has always been violence... there will always be violence.... Video games don't cause it, and if you took them all away I seriously doubt school shootings would drop...
I certainly think alot of kids will be playing this game. They were going to play the game reguardless of what the rating turned out to be, it is unavoidable.
I am planning on playing the game and i have a child that will be 16 just after release. I wont let them play the game at start but after i have played it a bit and i see how bad it is i may change that, or i may not.
I am not naive enough to think that what Conan has to offer in the way of Mature Content my teenage children have not see at least the like, if not more.
If the mature content boils down to topless women and severed limbs then i really dont see that it is that bad. I know my teenagers have seen R rated movies so im pretty sure they have seen boobs (plus they are girls, so im sure they have seen them) and if they have ever played Mortal Combat they have seen limbs flying.
Millions of kids play M rated games every single day. If a person thinks M rating stops kids from playing, well here is some yellow snow for you to eat. It taste like lemonade, I promise!!
I haven't read this whole post and I'm not going to but I don't know if this has been mentioned..or if anyone even realizes it..but it's a GAME. Kids play games...
I'm 18..so I guess I'm considered a young adult..and I don't plan on playing this game..but I think it's hilarious when people say things like..."I can't believe how many immature people are playing." ...Exactly...kids are IMMATURE because they are kids.. and they are PLAYING.
Well even if some kid is able bypass the rating by getting mom to buy the game for him, even if she keeps blindly paying the subscription because it occupies enough of the kid's time that she can squeeze in Oprah, and even if she doesn't care that hes playing a game with extreme violence, she's still bound to walk into the room one day and see a gigantic nipple on the screen. Although its paradoxical, its true. In North America for whatever reason, Nudity crosses the line BIG TIME whereas decapitations are deemed movie bloody magic.
I think immature people bring some fun into the game. The more diverse the community the better. some would say its always nice to have pvp and say "good fight" sometimes, but I rather have sometimes say "Die you fawking dyslexium". A game is fun with good pvp but its not just the fighting sometimes the flaming isn't bad either. The whole point of mmorpg is to be able to do things you cant do in real life. So with a diverse community you can play with good people and fight with immature people. And from some experience I would say that those that say "Noob Noob Noob" are in the early twenties. Some of the the 12-16 years old were actually afraid of pvp. The early 20's well they understand the mmorpg better and are more inclined to differentiate vrtuall world and real and to abuse it. Honestly I like to abuse of mmorpgs. And a lot of these mature players from what I've seen after you kill them go "why you kill? what did I do to you" and other stupid shit like that. There are immature people no matter the age, and I think them being there is fun. And in reality all the people games are somewhat immature and thats why they play games.
People who say Horrible parents who dont pay attention to their kids will let their kids play this game make me laugh.
I may let my 16 year old play this game, i dont know yet and wont know until i play it.
But i know that the reason for the M rating is Boobs and violence. My kid at 15, almost 16, can go to a PG-13 movie right now and see boobs and pretty graphic violence. There is no sex in Conan that i know of, the sex buff im not sure is in and even if it was they said that you saw nothing, and there is no full frontal nudity.
Any 16 year old (and probably much younger) who hasnt seen boobs yet hasnt wanted to see boobs yet.
Perhaps i am just a horrible parent but i let my kids watch Braveheart which is a R rated movie. I think it is a fantastic movie and even though it has a little nudity and alot of violence i dont think it is bad that they saw it. I would not let my 5 year old watch it but that is different. I also encouraged them to watch Band of Brothers because it was so awesome (though they passed on that one).
People who say Horrible parents who dont pay attention to their kids will let their kids play this game make me laugh. I may let my 16 year old play this game, i dont know yet and wont know until i play it. But i know that the reason for the M rating is Boobs and violence. My kid at 15, almost 16, can go to a PG-13 movie right now and see boobs and pretty graphic violence. There is no sex in Conan that i know of, the sex buff im not sure is in and even if it was they said that you saw nothing, and there is no full frontal nudity. Any 16 year old (and probably much younger) who hasnt seen boobs yet hasnt wanted to see boobs yet. Perhaps i am just a horrible parent but i let my kids watch Braveheart which is a R rated movie. I think it is a fantastic movie and even though it has a little nudity and alot of violence i dont think it is bad that they saw it. I would not let my 5 year old watch it but that is different. I also encouraged them to watch Band of Brothers because it was so awesome (though they passed on that one).
No, that's not what I am saying.
What I -AM- saying is that there will be irresponsible parents who don#t care what their kids do and let them play whatever they please, including this game.
I know for a fact that there are 14-year-old kids who are more mature than people twice their age and if the parents know this and have an agreement with their children, well I see no reason not to let the kids play that. However, there are more than enough parents out there who just don't care one way or another and children who should -NOT- be playing this game, hence the rating. I see the ratings as a guideline (see here, I'm not a parent, but I do have good friends who are), and the guidelines can be interpreted by the parents themselves, but the parents must be involved with the kid to know if it's all right.
So yes, I am still standing by my concern that there will be many children playing this game due to irresonsible parents. But that is not aimed at you specifically. ^_^
I haven't read this whole post and I'm not going to but I don't know if this has been mentioned..or if anyone even realizes it..but it's a GAME. Kids play games... I'm 18..so I guess I'm considered a young adult..and I don't plan on playing this game..but I think it's hilarious when people say things like..."I can't believe how many immature people are playing." ...Exactly...kids are IMMATURE because they are kids.. and they are PLAYING.
Reality check 101. Adults play games too. Yes, it's shocking but they do!!!
And guess what, this particular game is designed to entertain adults. Those people at Funcom must be really mad to have made an adult oriented game when only kids play them, right?
Please just consider the fact that a company is willing to invest 20-40 million dollars to make a game addressed towards adults. That means that either they are totally idiots, or the demographic of adult gamers is there.
Comments
Wow a 7 year old child playing a game based around violent crimes. Hookers, drugs, guns, murder? As a parent of 3 kids, one being 7, I just cant believe that parents would expose children this young to this sort of thing. I mean maybe 5 years from now, but does a seven year old even understand whats going on in this game? Hopefully he wont get the wrong ideas that what he sees in these games is okay to translate into real life.
No offense, but I wouldnt let my children spend the night at your house....
I have observed the debaters for "no children in the game because they're immature and irritating" and have come to the conclusion that it seems to be some kind of "I don't want you to play this game, but I just want you to know that it is so awesome" - much like the big brother teasing his smaller brother, because he isn't tall enough to try the roller-coaster. The debaters for "no children in the game" should stop writing and take a good look at themselves and think about who the immature people really are, and in what age-group they are in. You write that most immature players are in the 13-17 age-group, but from which statistics do you base that on? Do you ask every single person who annoys you? Your statements are based on mere assumptions. Most of the people I find annoying in EVE or WoW are actually +18 (I ask them). A typical response when I tell them to stop is something along these lines: "Get a life, nerd", "It's only a game." "Haha, NOOB!!", and so on. With a lot more grammatical errors and net-slang, of course.
The argument that blood, gore and nudity are bad for us is also invalid, as you do not have any evidence to support it. I played Soldier of Fortune (An FPS where you can shoot off limbs etc.), when I was 10-11 years old, and I fully knew, that I wasn't supposed to do that in-real-life, and that it was only a game. Children around that age, who can't differ game from reality, are insane, weren't raised accordingly, and should not be allowed to be near television, comics etc. either.
I am now 16, one of the top students in my class, and I have not taken any damage from playing vioent games. The roots your arguments are therefore not empirical, and should not be used to create laws and rules.
O'rly.
the fact this game is multiplatform on the crapbox 360 will ensure its horrible community
Envy much? You're just angry because it won't be released for the failure known as PlayStation 3 and the casual and cute little box known as the Wii.
Stupid fanboy.
O'rly.
I feel it goes both ways. Of course you may attract some immature kids, but it will also keep some out. Furthermore, if they come only because of the M rating they will quickly be weeded out, as the M content will lose their attention in a few months and they will move on to something else. Also, GTA 4 will be releasing which is the most M game out there and I'm sure most of those kids will be playing GTA.
Well how do u explain those kids who have gone over the line and harmed others? Boys killing their baby brothers because their favorite hero does that in a video game? Kids in high school bringing guns and shooting at people just cause they got affetcted by a video game. The fact that u did distinguish the difference beetween a virtual world and the real one doesnt mean every 1 has your clairvoyance. Why should children be subjected to such a harmfull test?
It may seem to you that most people are concerned that kids will bring immaturity to the game. But those who passed the laws and invented those ratings, however biased they may be, had as their prime concern to shelter children from possibly harmfull images.
Also keep in mind that in an rpg game the player tends to bind himself with his character alot more than with a comics or tele hero. Since you actually "live" in that virtual universe it much much easier to cross the barier. So your comment about television and comics is pretty much invalid.
I still dont understand the whole arguement on how video games damage kids.
Most of the kids who shoot up their schools, are teased in school, have parent issues at home, etc.
The kid who comes home, does some homework, logs on counterstrike for a little bit to relax before he goes out with some buddys for the night, is generally not the one whos going to shoot up the schools. Take a walk around town once and open your eyes kids everywhere play games, not everyone is going to shoot up their schools cause they shot a terriost in-game and defused a bomb, or just PVPed someone with their new sword.
Bottom line
Video games dont kill people.
People kill people
If you cannot tell the difference at age 12, this isnt going to change anything, you are emotionally damaged, and your going to have the same emotional issues when your 30, just a different number on the age charts.
Well, ill answer the OP rather then dive in on all the wild random tangents people have posted since. Yes the mature rating will immediately attract horny adolesents. Much in the same way a subsription to playboy or sneaking into a adult film would. That is the way US likes to make it, thats what they get. Taboo something and every lil kiddy under the sun wants a taste. and no im not just talking about maybe nudity or blah blah...the violence too, and the blood squirting....all the stuff that US says is not for kids. All of it says buy me im not for kids...so kids will get hands on it, and they will play it, and more likely in larger numbers than the adults who dont give a f*$k in the fist place.
yes it will mean thousands...maybe 2 or 3 thousand kids who managed to convince their parents that the R18+ is a joke.
honestly. there are bad parents around but i dont know a single parent that would willingly buy/rent an R18+ movie or game for their kids.
MMO wish list:
-Changeable worlds
-Solid non level based game
-Sharks with lasers attached to their heads
where in my post did I imply I was a wii fanboy or a ps3 fanboy?
I only own a PC.
PC gamers and console gamers don't mix in an mmo.
so get your facts straight before you make stupid statements.
Envy much? You're just angry because it won't be released for the failure known as PlayStation 3 and the casual and cute little box known as the Wii.
Stupid fanboy.
Fanboy? Sony took 11 months after the release of the PS3 for its games division to become profitable. This contrasts sharply with Microsoft, whose game division took over TWO YEARS to become profitable.As for the wii being casual - casual games are the XBox players. The kids sitting around chugging beer and playing halo in their dorm rooms. That's as casual as you get. Wii gamers are the ones who enjoy old school games and new and innovative ideas - definitely not casual. In fact the Wii's buying profile looks more like the PCs (no rush of initial sales, but consistent game sales for long periods of time - not the usual console pattern).
In every country and in every age, the priest has been hostile to liberty. He is always in alliance with the despot, abetting his abuses in return for protection to his own.
-Thomas Jefferson
No matter if they do or not its a video game and most kids see alot worse things on the evening news...so the parents or somone will buy it for them....i remember when mortal combat 1 tried this when it first came out lol lasted for a week
Considering you need a decent machine to run this beast, that alone will probably limit the amount of kids entering this game. Unfortunately, this will limit some adults as well. I doubt most parents are willing spend $500+ to upgrade their computer(assuming they haven't already) just so their kid(s) could play a M-rated game. Of course, once components gets cheaper, kids will be pouring in just like every other MMO that demanded a high-end comp at launch.
"When you're born you're naked, when you die you're naked again, and in-between all we do is work, eat, and play MMOs." ~Forum Warrior #141
Ok but I think your both missing my point here. Immature or irritating people in Mmo's are not neccasarily Children or Teens, and WOW is not an 18 certifacte or Mature rated game.
I think AOC is quite unique as it is the first big profile Mmo to be aimed at Adults only. My question is should kids or teens play it , ok I know no matter what happens they will play it and even if their parents try to stop them they will usually find a way to get round the problem but as responsible Adult gamers should we do more to make sure our youngsters are not subjected to Adult material in games ?
Jail... yep, we should build a huge jail where we can send children. Inside the jail, they will not see any kind of violence or nudity. To enforce the nudity we'll design a suit that can not be taken off. Children need to be protected from all experiences because with experience they will grow out of our control. And really that is what it's all about being in control.
wwwhhhaattt??? No where has there been a study that has confirmed that...
There has always been violence... there will always be violence.... Video games don't cause it, and if you took them all away I seriously doubt school shootings would drop...
Try.... getting a gun safe and locking it?
I certainly think alot of kids will be playing this game. They were going to play the game reguardless of what the rating turned out to be, it is unavoidable.
I am planning on playing the game and i have a child that will be 16 just after release. I wont let them play the game at start but after i have played it a bit and i see how bad it is i may change that, or i may not.
I am not naive enough to think that what Conan has to offer in the way of Mature Content my teenage children have not see at least the like, if not more.
If the mature content boils down to topless women and severed limbs then i really dont see that it is that bad. I know my teenagers have seen R rated movies so im pretty sure they have seen boobs (plus they are girls, so im sure they have seen them) and if they have ever played Mortal Combat they have seen limbs flying.
Millions of kids play M rated games every single day. If a person thinks M rating stops kids from playing, well here is some yellow snow for you to eat. It taste like lemonade, I promise!!
This thread should be called 'The Parents of Thousands of Kids Will not pay proper attention to their children's online behaviour' Agree or Disagree?
BOYCOTTING EA / ORIGIN going forward.
This one hit the nail on the head, most definitely.
Which Final Fantasy Character Are You?
Final Fantasy 7
I haven't read this whole post and I'm not going to but I don't know if this has been mentioned..or if anyone even realizes it..but it's a GAME. Kids play games...
I'm 18..so I guess I'm considered a young adult..and I don't plan on playing this game..but I think it's hilarious when people say things like..."I can't believe how many immature people are playing." ...Exactly...kids are IMMATURE because they are kids.. and they are PLAYING.
Well even if some kid is able bypass the rating by getting mom to buy the game for him, even if she keeps blindly paying the subscription because it occupies enough of the kid's time that she can squeeze in Oprah, and even if she doesn't care that hes playing a game with extreme violence, she's still bound to walk into the room one day and see a gigantic nipple on the screen. Although its paradoxical, its true. In North America for whatever reason, Nudity crosses the line BIG TIME whereas decapitations are deemed movie bloody magic.
I think immature people bring some fun into the game. The more diverse the community the better. some would say its always nice to have pvp and say "good fight" sometimes, but I rather have sometimes say "Die you fawking dyslexium". A game is fun with good pvp but its not just the fighting sometimes the flaming isn't bad either. The whole point of mmorpg is to be able to do things you cant do in real life. So with a diverse community you can play with good people and fight with immature people. And from some experience I would say that those that say "Noob Noob Noob" are in the early twenties. Some of the the 12-16 years old were actually afraid of pvp. The early 20's well they understand the mmorpg better and are more inclined to differentiate vrtuall world and real and to abuse it. Honestly I like to abuse of mmorpgs. And a lot of these mature players from what I've seen after you kill them go "why you kill? what did I do to you" and other stupid shit like that. There are immature people no matter the age, and I think them being there is fun. And in reality all the people games are somewhat immature and thats why they play games.
People who say Horrible parents who dont pay attention to their kids will let their kids play this game make me laugh.
I may let my 16 year old play this game, i dont know yet and wont know until i play it.
But i know that the reason for the M rating is Boobs and violence. My kid at 15, almost 16, can go to a PG-13 movie right now and see boobs and pretty graphic violence. There is no sex in Conan that i know of, the sex buff im not sure is in and even if it was they said that you saw nothing, and there is no full frontal nudity.
Any 16 year old (and probably much younger) who hasnt seen boobs yet hasnt wanted to see boobs yet.
Perhaps i am just a horrible parent but i let my kids watch Braveheart which is a R rated movie. I think it is a fantastic movie and even though it has a little nudity and alot of violence i dont think it is bad that they saw it. I would not let my 5 year old watch it but that is different. I also encouraged them to watch Band of Brothers because it was so awesome (though they passed on that one).
What I -AM- saying is that there will be irresponsible parents who don#t care what their kids do and let them play whatever they please, including this game.
I know for a fact that there are 14-year-old kids who are more mature than people twice their age and if the parents know this and have an agreement with their children, well I see no reason not to let the kids play that. However, there are more than enough parents out there who just don't care one way or another and children who should -NOT- be playing this game, hence the rating. I see the ratings as a guideline (see here, I'm not a parent, but I do have good friends who are), and the guidelines can be interpreted by the parents themselves, but the parents must be involved with the kid to know if it's all right.
So yes, I am still standing by my concern that there will be many children playing this game due to irresonsible parents. But that is not aimed at you specifically. ^_^
Which Final Fantasy Character Are You?
Final Fantasy 7
And guess what, this particular game is designed to entertain adults. Those people at Funcom must be really mad to have made an adult oriented game when only kids play them, right?
Please just consider the fact that a company is willing to invest 20-40 million dollars to make a game addressed towards adults. That means that either they are totally idiots, or the demographic of adult gamers is there.